Scarlet

As with her lover and her partner in sin, the life of Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter gives key insights to idea that shame varies from individual to individual, and from society to society. Like Dimmesdale, she experiences a deep shame for her previous actions. Unlike Dimmesdale however, she is punished for her crime and is forced to wear an embroidered scarlet ‘A’, as a token of her shame, “the same reason that the minister keeps his hand over his heart” (Hawthorne 122). From here, her…

"It made her the very brightest little jet of flame that ever danced upon the earth" (Hawthorne, p.96). ‘The Scarlet Letter,’ written by the critically acclaimed author Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a suspenseful and dramatic novel that follows the struggles and triumphs of Hester Prynne as she attempts to preserve her personality. Born in England in the seventeenth century, Hester’s husband, Chilingworth, sends her across the world to Boston, before becoming lost at sea. Presuming him as dead, Hester…

Shame for you Sins In The Scarlet Letter the main themes of the story are sin, guilt, and shame. Shame has a way of punishing oneself. Shame may be an extreme form of punishment, but in the book it worked, and it had a lasting effect on the characters. In The Scarlet Letter the characters of Hester and Dimmesdale show that shame as a form of punishment is good for the individual and the people around them. In our society today, many things such as racism, slavery, and sexism that were once…

have more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough” (Winfrey). In the short story, The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst, the narrator must learn how to handle his pride. In Hurst’s story, it is set in the point of view of the elder brother. The elder brother struggles constantly as pride eats him up continuously throughout the tale. The Scarlet Ibis features the narrator and his younger handicapped brother, Doodle. The narrator feels ashamed and pride slowly…

Throughout The Scarlet Letter, judgement is displayed quite often. Hester Prynne, the main character in The Scarlet Letter, commits a sin that is heavily looked down upon, and she is forced to adjust to her new life of constant judgement and ridicule. Hester Prynne was considered a malefactress and was required to spend time in jail and be publicly shamed and humiliated on the scaffold in the center of the town. Nathaniel Hawthorne…

The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in the 1850s, takes place in the Massachusetts in the seventeenth century. During this time, the land is dominated by a Puritan society and ruled by their strict beliefs. Hester Prynne, a woman originally from England, travels to Boston alone. Her husband, Roger Chillingworth, is expected to follow, but manages to be captured on the sea by Indians. He comes back after two years to find his wife on display before the town. She is found guilty for…

Ideate the open discussion of every immoral act you have ever executed. Although most are well hidden within our minds, inquities are now deemed a social norm. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, sins are portrayed as a direct disobedience of God. Hester Prynne is shamefully branded with the letter “A” as a representation of her adultery, while Arthur Dimmesdale, Hester’s partner in crime, chooses to keep his offense confidential. Both are disgraced from their community, though one is…

How does an adulterer live in a Puritan community, especially while being a Puritan minister? As seen in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the Puritans created a culture with ideals that emphasized darkness, restriction, and conformity. Both suffering from their mutual sin of adultery, Dimmesdale and Hester have contrasting representations of the forest due to their distinct identities. Living among the outskirts of the town, Hester Prynne becomes caught between the harsh Puritan laws…

“your past is done, so forget it; your future is yet to come, so dream it.” People learn from their past in order to learn from their mistakes. They know that they can fix them and become better people. It wasn 't always like that, in the book The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne the main character Hester realizes that even though she did she committed a sin in her past the Puritan community sees that sin as one of the worst sins you can commit and will never forget what she has…

Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote the book , The Scarlet Letter, with certain themes in mind, such as, guilt, shame, and redemption. These themes are clearly seen throughout the book and their presents help the readers understand the overarching meaning and moral message of the book that was intended by Hawthorne. One of the most dominant themes is guilt and the way guilt affects specific characters within The Scarlet Letter. The reader can especially see that guilt affects Hester and Dimmesdale. To go…